'Extortion': Schweizer Says DC 'Just Like the Mob, Except It's Legal'

WYNTON HALL26 Oct 2013

Peter Schweizer argued that Washington’s political establishment creates threatening bills to scare wealthy interests into making big campaign donations and to hire favored lobbyists, similar to the mafia’s tactic of requiring “protection money” on Friday.

“If problems are being solved, if things are going smoothly and things are being fixed, a lot of people are not going to give.The party establishments and the political leaders from both sides arecollaborating a lot more than they let on,” explained Schweizer.

“It’s a little bit like professional wrestling,” he continued. “For somebody who’s never seen it who comes from a foreign country and first watches it, they think these guys in the ring in spandex actually really hate each other.”

“But, of course, after you watch it for a while you realize that they’re in business together and that there’s money to be made by hyping this sense of conflict, this sense of drama,” Schweizer explained. “I think the same thing applies in Washington, DC.”

Schweizer added, “If you’re going to motivate people to give you money or to hire certain lobbyists, the way you motivate them is by fear. You have to give them a sense of conflict, a sense of urgency.”

Extortion’s numerous revelations have touched off several firestorms in Washington. Schweizer has revealed:

Has republished top secret “price lists,” known officially as “party dues,” that include the donation totals members of Congress must raise to land top committee spots and chairmanships

How leadership PAC loopholes allow members of Congress to convert campaign cash into lavish lifestyle upgrades for themselves and their family members

Alleged that Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) bagged over $200,000 in donations from executives and companies prior to holding votes on three bills of critical importance to their industries

How President Barack Obama used a political extortion tactic known as a “double milker bill” to “milk” millions in donations by pitting Obama’s friends in Hollywood against his supporters in Silicon Valley to extract cash from both.

“Washington is less about law-making and more about money-making,” says Schweizer.